Background: Continuing Nursing Education (CNE) is considered as proper reply to the rapid changes in health care delivery and promoting professional standards of current practice among the nurses. It is an active process that can take place through a variety of activities such as reading the professional journals or textbooks, listening to the lectures, or observing other nurses practicing.
Objectives: This study was conducted to investigate the nurses' opinion about continuing nursing education, and to determine the educational resources as well as nurses' educational needs.
Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in the teaching hospitals in Kermanshah. For data collection, a questionnaire based on five item likert scale was distributed among one hundred nurses who participated in this study.
Results: 37% of the participants were male and 63% were female and their mean age was 34.15 years old. They experienced nursing for more than ten years (10.97). 36% of them were single and 64% were married. “To improve patient care” was considered as the most important factor to take part in continuing education programs (x=3.89). “Obstacles to participation” indicated similar importance with a low difference (the lowest mean=3.19 and the highest mean=3.39). “Disease process” was mentioned as the most important field requiring continuing education (x=3.1).
Conclusion: Continuing education should play an important role in nursing. To increase nurses’ motivation and decrease the obstacles, we recommend increasing the personnel number, decreasing workload, considering workshop participation as factors of job improvement and allocating special times to education.